Stribling Real Estate is saying that the luxury condominiums, 255 Columbia Street, between Carroll and President, are 80 percent sold (13 condos in the building). As a casual observer, I wonder if this sort of designer development will change the area, which already felt a punch of nightlife from the extremely popular and critically (and popularly) loved Thai restaurant, Pok Pok. Located on a quiet stretch of Columbia Street, overlooking Manhattan, the restaurant by former Portland, Ore., cooking star Andy Ricker, the James Beard “Best Chef of the Northwest” in 2011, is a NYC foodie favorite.

Though folks wait more than an hour to get seated at Pok Pok, and hit local bars while waiting, it’s still hard for businesses, and certainly for restaurants, to survive down on Columbia Street. Folks just don’t want to cross the BQE apparently. Or maybe it’s the (relatively) long walk from the F train stops.

Someone needs to set up a shuttle bus from the F train to Columbia Street…